The invention relates generally to providing users with service providers in a field of service desired by the user. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for ensuring a real-time connection between users and selected service provider using voice mail.
Consumers interested in acquiring services must first identify a service provider who is capable of providing the required services. At present, this usually means perusing a telephone directory, which can become frustrating and time-consuming if the service providers telephoned are not immediately available. In addition, a simple telephone call does not enable the service provider to charge a fee according to the time spent with his/her customers.
Systems now exist that enable providers of services to charge fees for the time spent delivering the service. 1-900 phone numbers will charge the seeker of services according to the time spent receiving the service and will transfer this payment, or a portion of it, to the provider.
Each 1-900 number, however, has a very narrow scopexe2x80x94xe2x80x9cHear your Horoscope,xe2x80x9d for instance. If a seeker would like to hear an entirely different servicexe2x80x94xe2x80x9cYour Local Weather,xe2x80x9d for instancexe2x80x94he/she would have to dial a completely different 1-900 number. Similarly, each 1-900 number is quite rigid in the price, quality, and specificity of its service.
However, current systems now exist that enable seekers to locate service providers according to a wide range of price, quality and specificity of service (U.S. application Ser. No. 09/414,710). Such systems also make is possible for the service provider and buyer to be connected and communicate in real time. Unfortunately, a real-time communications connection is not always established between service seekers and service providers. Service provider unavailability is a primary cause for failure to establish the real-time communication link with the user.
Therefore, there remains a need to overcome one or more of the limitations in the above described existing art which are satisfied by the inventive structure and method described hereinafter.
The present invention overcomes the problems in the existing art described above by providing a method and apparatus for ensuring a real-time connection between users and selected service provider using voice mail. The present invention is a system through which seekers of a wide array of services can select, contact, converse, and pay for a service provider using a real-time communications device such as the telephone. The invention enables the service seeker to locate a service provider by communicating the name of a profession, such as xe2x80x9cpsychiatrist,xe2x80x9d which is recognized by the system""s software. In a similar fashion, the seeker can then specify a price range, quality rating, language, and keyword descriptors of the service provider. Within the desired parameters, the system offers service providers who have made themselves available to render services at the present time.
Once the appropriate available service provider is selected, the system automatically connects the service seeker with the service provider for a live conversation. However, in the event of service provider unavailability, the system enables a service seeker to leave a voice mail message for the selected service provider. Consequently, the system can facilitate a real-time communications link between the service seeker and service provider in response to review of the voice mail by the service provider. The system automatically bills the service seeker for the time spent conversing with the service provider and compensates the service provider accordingly.
Advantages of the invention include providing users with the capability to engage in a live conversation with a selected service provider via a telephone. Contrary to prior systems, requiring an internet connection and browser to receive such services, the equivalent is now provided by a simple voice transmission medium such as the telephone. As a result, virtually anyone can benefit from the capabilities provided by the present invention. The system also allows providers of a field of service to be compensated for supplying their expertise to a user. In addition, the system facilitates a real-time communications connection between a service seeker and a selected service provider once the service provider becomes available following an initial unavailability.